Machine for filling and sealing bottles



Jan. 5 1926.

1,568,129 A. J. BILLOWS MACHINE FOR FILLINQT AND SEALING BOTTLES Filed Sept. 8, 1922 2 Sheds-Sheet 1 Jan. 5 1926.

A. J. BILLOWS MACHINE FOR FILLING AND SEALING BOTTLES Filed Sept. 8. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f/rrfiarTo E, 1, 5/. 0 W6 Patented Jan. 5, 1926.

PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR JAMES BILLOWS, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

MACHINE FOR FILLING AND SEALING BOTTLES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR JAMES BIL- Lows, a subject of theKing of Great Britain and Ireland, and a resident of London, county of London, England, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Machines for Filling and Sealing Bottles, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention, which relates to a machine for filling and sealing bottles. is characterized in that, after filling and snifting, the scaling is effected by means of a metal disc cap, or by screw stopper, or by an internal stopper, according to the type of bottle used, all being done while under pressure and by one and the same machine, hereinafter termed rack, either operated. by rotary movement or stationary.

In order that my said invention may be the more readily understood, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanyingsheets of drawings illustrative of, the rack as applied to sealing by means of metal disc caps, and wherein Figure 1 is a front view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of the rack in position ready to receive a bottle.

Figure 2 is a similar view, but showing a bottle in position ready for filling and sealing.

Figure 3 is a side view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of the rack shown in said Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an underside plan view taken r on line 44 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a side view of the catch plate shown in Figure 4. Figure 6 is a View, partly in section and partly in elevation, and drawn to an enlarged; scale, of the slidable chuck hereinafter referred to.

Figure 7 is a top plan view thereof.

Figure 8 1s a top plan View, partly in section and partly in elevation, and taken on line 88 of Figure 1. I

Figure 9 is a plan view of the striking bush hereinafter referred to.

Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the striking bush shown in Fig. 9.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures,

In carrying out the invention, and referring to the drawings, the head .3 of the rackprovided an which communi- Applieation filed September 8, 1922. Serial No. 586,939.

cates with a suitable rotatable connection 5 of a carbonating machine, and said head carries at its upper end a rubber ring 6, into which the neck 7 of the bottle 8 to be filled and sealed is inserted, the bottom of said bottle S'being engaged by a bottle plate 9 carrier by a screw-threaded rod 10 rotatable in the upper bridge piece 11 of the rack, said screw-threaded rod 10 being provided with a hand wheel 12, and said bridge oiecell with a set screw 13 to lock the screwed rod 10 when the bottle plate 9 is in adjusted position.

In the head 3 of the rack there is arranged a vertically slidable chuck 14, the same consisting of a cylindrical member provided externally with vertical grooves 15 in which are fitted fingers 16, each pr0- vided at their upper end with an inturned projection 17, said fingers 16 being resiliently held in position in said vertical grooves 15 by means of a rubber band 18, said cylindrical member 14 being, as shown in the drawings, formed in one piece. The band 18 possesses sufiicient tensile strength to draw the projections 17 of the finger 16. into engagement with the cap and form a groove therein about the beads of the bottle when relative turning movement takes place between the bottle, the cap and the fingers. This operation, is a common eX- pedient. It will be observed that the upper surfaces of thegprojections 17 are inwardly and downwardlv inclined and consequentl; the mouth of the bottle may readily enter between the fingers. After the groove is formed and the fingers are moved away from the bottle the projections 17 will slip transversely across those edge portions of the cap which have been crimped or grooved into engagement with the neck of the bottle as stated.

The chuck 14 is carried at the upper end of a screw-threaded rod 19 by meansof a bush 2O screwed into the lower end of said chuck 14 and a headed pin 21 rotatable in said bush and fixedly carried by the upper end 22 of said screw-threaded rod 19, said rod 19, which is provided with an operating hand wheel 23 with a striker or resetting cam 24 thereon, screwing in the movable bridge piece 25 of the rack, which lower bridge piece 25, as well as the head 3, is car ried by t e 9???? e d 9 5 ertically di po er?- guide rods 26 slidably mounted. in the top bridge piece 11.

The spindle 27 01? the hand wheel "23 is rotatably mounted in the bottom bridge piece 28 of the rack, said bottom bridge ,piece28 being fixedly connected to the top ln'idge piece 11 by means of vertically disposed rods 29, and through said bottom bridge piece 23 are adapted to slide stop pins 30 carried by the movable bridge piece 25, said stop pins 30 at their lower ends being provided each with a roller 31 adapted to engage the spring-controlled striking or look ing plate 32 which is rotatably mounted on the bottom bridge piece 28 aforesaid.

3% is the snitt passage leading to atmosphere from the filling chamber 35 in the rack head 3, said snitt 3 1 being closed by valve 36 carried by a-spring-controlled lever 37 pivotal-ly mounted on the rack head 3, said lever carrying a roller 38 adapted to engage a cam 39 on a suitable part of the carbonating machine.

In use, the bottle plate 9 is adjusted to suit the length of bottle, and then looked *in position. A metal disc cap'tO is then pressed=into the cap attittingchuck 14 which able bridge piece upwards against the action of the springs 41 anchored to the bridge pieces 25 and 28, till the arms 42 of said head 3 contact with the adjustable stops 43 on the rods 29 which connect the bridge pieces 11 and .28 togetherr As this takes place, the rollers 31 of the stop pins are raised clear of the hook portions 440M116 strikingplate 32, avhich; plate 32 underthe act-ion of'i'ts spring 4-5 flies-back till brought to rest by a stop 46, the rollers 31then coming to-rest on the upperiaces of the hook portions 44 of said strikingplate 32, a-s-in Figure'2,'the upward movement of the-head 3 and bridge piece 25 bringing the rubber ring into intimate and iliquidtight contactwith the bottle neck.

Garbonatedlliquid.is nowad nitted :by-way oflpassage 4 into the filling chamber in the head 3, and the-rack is r tated by means of handle 49 carried by the upper bridge piece 11 of the rack, .sniftingtaking vplace each-time the roller 38 of :the snitt valve 36 passes over the canrsurface 39 of the carbonatmg machme.

Bottle fbefing filled, and rack brought to the vertical position, the hand wheel 23 is further rotated clockwise, causing the screw 15) to travel upwards in the movable bridge piece 25, spindle 27 of said screw 19 sliding in the bottom bridge piece 28, pushing the Chuck 1% and "the metal disc cap therein into contact with the mouth of the bottle. 8, closing said disc cap on to the mouth of said bottle b-ycrimping it thereon in the usual manner. this takes place, projections orshonlders l? on the striker 2-1 carried by the operating hand wheel 23, engage corresponding projections 48 on the striking-or locking plate 32 on the'bottom bridge piece 28, resetting or pushingsaid-striking plate 32 back, against the action of its spring 45, till the hook portions 4.4- of the striking plate are moved away from below the rollers 31 of the stop pins 30. Immediately this takes place, the head 3, movable bridge piece 25, the chuck let and screw 19 and hand wheel 23 and with it the striker 24,1111 move downwards under the action of the springs 41 anchored to the bottom bridge piece 28, withdrawing chuck 14L from bottle month, leaving the same closed bythe metal disc cap, whereupon on the liquid supply being cut oft, the bottle can be removed, and the various operations repeated for each succeeding bottle.

Further, although the invention has only been described and shown with the use of a rotatable rack, yet a stationary rack may be equally ell employed, and in this case, the snit'ting willbe effected in any convenient and suitable manner.

I claim 1. A machine for filling and sealing bottles comprising top and bottom bridge pieces connected by vertical rods, :1 head slidably mounted on the rode, a sealing gasket in said head, a chuck also in the head below the sealing gasket uide rods carried by the head and vslidably engaging the top bridge piece, retracting springs con- 'necting the head with the bottom bridge piece, stop pins carried 'by-the head. a striker plate for automatically locking s aid stop pinsiin an elevated position, a, spindle having a screw part engaging-in a portion of said head and adapted to operate the chuck, and a rcsettingcam carried by the spindle and adapted to release the striking plate from locking engagement with said stop pins after the bottle has been sealed.

A machine for filling and sealing bottles while under pressure including a rigid main frame, an adjust-able bottle abutment at one end thereof, a vertically movable filling head slidably engaging thesides of the main frame, a compressible rubber ring in saidhead, springs for maintaining said head in a lowered position,vmeans for advancing the head to cause the rubber ring to grip the neck of thebott'le, a capping Almost at the same time H lli) chuck in said head, a spindle for operating said chuck, means for locking said head while the bottle is being filled, and means for releasing said head after the bottle has been capped.

3. A machine of the class described including a frame, an adjustable bottle abutment at one end of the frame, a head having arms slidable in the frame, stops carried by the frame and adapted to be engaged by said arms, a collapsible rubber ring mounted in said head, springs for retracting said head away firom said stops, a spindle having a screw portion for elevating said head against the tension of the spring and the initial movement of said head causing the rubber ring to compress and engage the neck of a bottle, a chuck in said head operated by the further move ment of said spindle thereby to cap the bottle, means for locking the head in its filling and capping position, and means associated With the spindle and controlled thereby for releasing said means for look ing the head.

4. In a machine of the class described, a frame including side rods and top and bottom bridge pieces, a filling head mounted for vertical movements between the side rods, springs connecting said head to the bottom bridge piece, a spindle having a screw portion for advancing the head in opposition to the springs, a spring controlled striking plate associated with the bottom bridge piece, vertical stop pins carried by the lower portion of the head, rollers carried by the ends of said pins and adapted to engage the said striking plate, a member carried by the spindle and adapted to engage with the striking plate to move the same out of the way of the rollers on the stop pins to permit the springs to return the head to its normal position.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature hereto this 26th day of July, 1922.

ARTHUR JAMES BILLOVVS. 

